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Kimon de Greef

Kimon de Greef is a freelance journalist and researcher from South Africa. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, Guernica, National Geographic and other publications. He coauthored a book about abalone poaching and has written widely on illicit trades. He holds a conservation biology masters from the University of Cape Town and a journalism masters from New York University.

Some recent stories involved a Syrian raccoon trapper in New York, a charismatic but dangerous neo-shaman who brought psychedelic toad smoking to the world, the rivalrous underworld of songbird smuggling (featured by NPR) and the harmful supply chain for white sage. He has also written about gang violence, corruption, food delivery work, diamond mining, racing pigeons, sea cucumbers and donkey rustling.